Yazelix Nova is a Nix-packaged terminal workspace built around Mars (a Rio-derived fork), a thin Yazelix-owned Zellij fork, Yazi, Nushell (with packaged Bash, Zsh, and Fish alternatives), a lazygit popup (but you can configure other git clients!), and an optional coding agent popup. It uses the Yazelix Helix fork by default (but editor.command can select your preferred terminal editor). yzx launch opens the desktop workspace through Mars, while yzx enter will open Yazelix in any capable terminal emulator (Mars provides tighter Yazelix integration, though) or over SSH. Great defaults out of the box!

Classic was bloated and built on the wrong ownership model. Its main repository acted as the product runtime, component control plane, configuration repair system, compatibility layer, and maintainer toolbox.

Classic's child repositories did not create firm boundaries. The main repo still carried their maintenance machinery and overlapping runtime logic. Nova gives first-party Yazelix components firm package boundaries. Each component owns its implementation and contract. Nova pins and composes their package outputs.

Nova owns 72,219 fewer lines, a 79% reduction. Classic's Rust code alone is 4.2 times larger than Nova's entire code and configuration surface.

Nova delivers more features in 21% of the code. It has a clearer configuration model, tighter editor and Yazi integration, stronger diagnostics, and a coherent popup-oriented interface. The smaller architecture makes Yazelix easier to improve and better to use.

Classic proved the idea. Nova is the better product and the architecture Yazelix should have had from the start.

Yazelix requires Nix with flakes enabled. launch opens the packaged Mars window in a graphical session, while enter starts the same workspace in the current terminal or over SSH.

The stable branch advances from a checked and dogfooded main revision at most once per week. Use main for more constant updates or an immutable nova-v* tag for an exact release.

Linux is the dogfooded platform. CI builds all packages and a Home Manager activation on aarch64-darwin, while interactive macOS use and the Mars GUI remain unverified.

nix run github:luccahuguet/yazelix/stable -- launch
nix run github:luccahuguet/yazelix/stable#yazelix-no-mars -- enter

If the one-off launch fails, inspect the owned runtime setup with:

nix run github:luccahuguet/yazelix/stable -- doctor

nix profile add --refresh github:luccahuguet/yazelix/stable
yzx launch

Use the Home Manager module for a declarative install.

Classic v17.12 translates mutable Classic settings.jsonc or config.toml files into Nova configuration. It does not rewrite Home Manager declarations or Home Manager-owned files. Run the bridge once when you need to preserve mutable Classic settings:

nix run github:luccahuguet/yazelix/v17.12#yazelix -- launch

If your Classic settings match packaged defaults, start with Nova's packaged defaults and move straight to stable. Home Manager users must replace Classic-only options with Nova's narrow module surface before switching.

After switching, yzx doctor reports recognized Classic configs/ and sessions/ state, generated Nushell extern artifacts, and migration backups in the active Yazelix roots. These are read-only warnings: nova=unused means Nova did not load the path, while ownership=ambiguous means its contents or owner cannot be proven from the pathname alone. Nova does not archive or remove the reported paths, and external scripts may still reference them.

The Nova cutover intentionally replaces the old main history. Existing Git clones should be replaced with a fresh clone rather than updated with an ordinary pull. Classic remains available at the frozen classic branch, while the immutable v17.12 tag remains the migration and rollback bridge.

Start the guided tour after launching Yazelix:

yzx tutor begin

yzx help lists every command. yzx doctor checks the owned runtime setup without opening Mars or Zellij. Inside Yazelix, press Alt Shift M to open the command palette, which includes both help and tutor entries.

Press Alt Shift K to open Ratconfig:

The footer lists the selected row's controls.

Yazelix extends Helix/Vim's h/j/k/l motion model into a workspace key grid. The Alt and Ctrl Alt layers move focus, tabs, or panes, while Alt Shift groups four workspace surfaces:

Yazi and the menu use their initials:

• Alt Shift Y toggles the full Yazi popup.
• Alt Shift M toggles the command menu.
• Alt Shift S opens a transient full-screen random visual. Press any ordinary screen input to return to the unchanged workspace; this is not a session lock. Set keybindings.screen to remap it for newly launched sessions.

Press a popup's key again to close or hide it and return to the tiled workspace. Other floating panes keep running until explicitly shown again. Other useful bindings are:

Managed Helix supplies the editor binding. Terminal editors can bind the same yzx reveal command; see Configuration for Neovim and terminal Emacs examples.

Ratconfig's Keys tab is the complete packaged reference, and defaults/zellij/config.kdl remains the runtime source.

The materializer uses the selected Yazelix package's config and does not start Yazi or prepare the interactive runtime. See Runtime Notes for its output, validation, and exit-status contract.

Package names follow yazelix[-no-mars][-no-helix][-no-yazi]. Each suffix removes that managed package while retaining the integration around it. no-helix uses the configured host editor; no-yazi requires matching host yazi and ya commands.

See Installation and packages for package variants, platform support, SSH use, measured sizes, Home Manager, and updates.

Yazelix assembles focused first-party forks, plugins, libraries, and commands:

yzx config opens Ratconfig over the managed tree at ~/.config/yazelix/. Yazelix inherits packaged defaults and persists only explicit overrides. Overview combines recommended settings with every explicit, invalid, externally managed, or diagnosed field. All includes the complete inventory. Tabs whose Overview would hide fewer than three fields or less than one quarter of their inventory simply show All.

Set shell.program in Ratconfig or config.toml to choose packaged Nushell (default), Bash, Zsh, or Fish for new panes and sessions. Yazelix initializes Starship, Carapace completions, and zoxide for managed Nushell. Bash, Zsh, and Fish use their normal interactive startup files.

See Configuration for settings, popups, native files, Yazi plugins, cursor ownership, and editor behavior.

From a local checkout, use:

nix run .#yazelix -- launch
nix run .#yazelix-no-mars -- enter

See Development for CI and local checks, Architecture for ownership boundaries, and Runtime Notes for launch and integration contracts.

Yazelix owns 21,849 lines of tracked text project files. The reproducible scorecard excludes Beads, lockfiles, and binary assets.